In short, there's concern all round that Touma is becoming rather too boyish, a worry ably demonstrated by her willingness to headbutt Kanna in the name of a delicious snack. But what should they do? Somehow, the original suggestion to help her become more girly gets twisted around to Kanna's idea to turn her into a gentleman (how I would have loved to see this episode become a twisted My Fair Lady parody at this point, but it didn't happen), which in turn meanders down the path of Haruka as the leader of a pack of dogs, with Kanna or Chiaki beneath her in the pecking order. But which is better, Kanna or Chiaki? There's only one way to find out....
It isn't just the Minami household that's concerned about Touma though, her brothers are also a little worried, which leads to the hatching of a plan which ends in buying a decidedly bizarre choice of birthday present. Meanwhile, Natsuki becomes a little more besotted with Haruka (no doubt largely on account of a picture Touma furnishes him with), although his meaningful long stares get misinterpreted by Hitomi as being shot in her direction. Cue even more confusion all round.
As Minami-ke Okaeri episodes go, this sits in the decidedly average category, with gags that seemed to go off at decidedly odd tangents with varying degrees of comic success to make for a reasonably enjoyable, albeit hardly laugh out loud, episode. I guess there's only so much comedy you can wring from umbrellas....
Honestly, I didn't know what to think of episode 4. I knew Okaeri would never live up to the brilliance that was the 1st season of Minami-ke, but I had hoped that the director would somehow inject some form of genuine comedy back into the show. Alas, my hopes were dashed as soon as I finished watching the episode. Episode 4 was really disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that Kana and Hosaka are the only characters that are carrying this anime on their shoulders at the moment, as they are the only two that often force at least a smile out of my face whenever they're on-screen (don't ask me why I find Hosaka constantly unbuttoning his shirt in inappropriate situations hilarious and equally disturbing).
I know it's really early to judge an anime series, 4 episodes in, but Okaeri seems to be treading along the same road that Okawari tumbled down (and we all know how Okawari ended up).
I liked episode 4, but I found episode 3 disappointing (which some people really loved). I loved Haruka's "Iron Claw." I loved Touma's short-lived headbutting. I loved Natsuki and Touma's conflict and Kana's resolution to the situation. I liked Hitomi and her being prepared for Hosaka's water-slinging.
ReplyDeleteNow, the Hosaka element was the funniest to be sure, but the rest of the episode was good too. This series may not be as good as the first one, but it certainly is no Okawari, which bothered me right from the start.